How America’s Retreat from Human Rights Enables Democratic Erosion

The end of USAID was quickly followed by broader cuts to democracy and governance assistance, the elimination of a government office to counter foreign malign influence, and the downsizing of congressionally mandated annual human rights reports. The U.S. Government no longer collects data on freedom of assembly and association, election fraud, government corruption, or ethnic minority vulnerability. Join us for a discussion led by PGE Visiting Scholar Jonathan Kamin exploring how recent government restructuring is enabling democratic erosion and introducing new security risks.

• Katie LaRoque, Director of Advocacy, Freedom House

• Heather Flynn, Former Senior Professional Staff, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

• Dr. Adela Levis, SIS alumna and former State Department Officer in the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the Global Engagement Center

• Nicole Widdersheim, Deputy Washington Director, Human Rights Watch

• Moderator, Jonathan Kamin, Visiting Scholar, PGE, retired USAID

Globalizing Democracy Protection explores social, economic, technological, and political factors enabling democratic erosion. The project documents how illiberal innovations that weaken political inclusion, electoral integrity, rule of law, and checks on corruption undermine both security and democracy. By engaging researchers, governance professionals, international civil society, and students pursuing our GGPS degree, activities identify new strategies for disrupting autocratization and defending democracy based on comparative lessons.

Host or Publisher Department of Politics, Governance & Economics